Fun with DoJ Statistics!

[LowerCaseRepublican]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/...e/index_np.html

 

1) Of the more than 5,000 foreign nationals detained in anti-terrorism measures, not a single one stands convicted of any terrorist offense.

 

2) Nor did he find a single terrorist among the 80,000 Arabs and Muslims called in for registration, or the 8,000 sought out for FBI interviews.

 

3) He also claims that his terrorism investigations led to 368 criminal indictments and 194 convictions. What he doesn't say is that all but a handful of the convictions were for petty offenses, not terrorism charges.

 

4) A Syracuse University study found that the median sentence actually handed down in cases labeled 'terrorist' by the Justice Department in the first two years after 9/11 was 14 days – not the kind of sentence you'd expect for a terrorist.

 

5) And where are the al-Qaeda sleeper cells that prompted the aggressive sweeps in the first place? The closest thing Ashcroft can point to are six young men from Lackawanna, N.Y., who followed a charismatic religious leader to an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan, but returned to the United States showing no interest in terrorism and undertook no activity whatsoever in furtherance of even a petty crime, much less a terrorist plot.

 

6) The only criminal conviction involving an actual terrorist incident that Ashcroft can cite is that of shoe bomber Richard Reid, and he was captured not by anything the government did but simply because an alert flight attendant noticed a strange-looking man trying to light his shoe.

 

Ahh...the illusion of safety. For all these "terror cells" being broken up, the only thing being broken up and destroyed is our Constitutional rights and civil liberties. A shoe-na-bomber was captured not because of government infringements on civil liberties but because of a random guy on the plane and the whores of both parties supporting this quasi-police state bulls*** herald it as some sort of great achievement which justifies the PATRIOT Act etc.

[Texsox]

In all the post 9/11 thoughts, the idea that this was going to be an isolated, one-time attack was hardly mentioned. Conventional wisdom was this was the beginning of a prolonged series of attacks against us. Actions were taken based on that scenario.

 

Unfortunately, rolling back these laws becomes impossible for elected officials who would not like to be labeled as pro-terrorist by their opponents.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Once again...

 

Here goes Apu, maliciously spreading the sad truth again. Traitor Commie Bastard Flag Burner Puppy Dog Kicker!!!

 

[Rex Kickass]

I believe thats kitten drowner. Not puppy kicker.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

::wonders where Nuke is at since he was defending the Ashcroft raids before saying "conviction rates were high!"::

 

And Tex -- I liked the questions raised by Ron Paul (R-TX) regarding the PATRIOT Act. He was one of 3 Republican Congressmen to break ranks and vote against the Act & ask how curtailments of civil liberties would have helped to stop 9-11 because there's no evidence showing that had the PATRIOT Act been in place, the attacks on 9/11 would have been prevented.

 

"This legislation wouldn't have made any difference in stopping the Sept. 11 attacks," he says. "Therefore, giving up our freedoms to get more security when they can't prove it will do so makes no sense. I seriously believe this is a violation of our liberties." -- Ron Paul

 

The PATRIOT Act was simply a laundry list of things that the DoJ wanted to have available to them but never were able to get them through since they were so antithetical to the Constitution but after 9/11, they were able to slam them through.